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Smart Comp 3 by Sonible tries something new!

Tutorial | Dez 11, 2025

Smart Comp 3 by Sonable offers a unique visual approach to compression, allowing users to intuitively match compression settings between different tracks using a map-based interface for greater consistency across projects. Unlike traditional compressors that require manual adjustment of attack, threshold, release, and ratio, this tool lets you visually place your sound in the desired compression zone and easily replicate that setting across multiple drum tracks or projects. While the plugin is currently only full-band and not multiband, its intelligent analysis and goal-focused workflow make it an exciting option for producers seeking matched dynamics and cohesive sound.

You can watch the Video on Youtube

Short Overview

Today I explored Smart Comp 3 by Sonable and found its compression approach with the interactive map both intuitive and effective. Instead of manually dialing in settings, I can simply position a dot on the map to achieve consistent compression across multiple tracks, which is ideal for projects like albums or EPs where cohesion is important. I also compared it to the APU Loudness Compressor, which lets me match dynamic ranges between different drum loops for a uniform sound. While Smart Comp 3 only offers single-band compression for now, its workflow feels like a step forward for achieving fast and consistent results.

Introduction to Smart Comp 3 by Sonible

Today, I want to share my thoughts on Smart Comp 3 by Sonible, a compressor plugin that has an innovative mapping system. This unique approach lets you visualize and control where your current settings are on a map, offering direct access to the vibe and style of compression you want for your audio material.

The Map Interface and Direct Control

Moving Beyond Traditional Knobs

Typical compressors give you knobs for attack, threshold, release, and ratio. You dial these in manually based on your understanding of what you want your source to sound like. With Smart Comp 3, you get an interactive dot within a mapped area specific to your audio input, such as a drum kit. This dot allows you to experiment by simply dragging it around. The plugin then sets all the usual parameters for you, making adjustments behind the scenes to deliver the style and amount of compression you desire.

Aiming for Consistency

For me, consistency between drum busses in different projects or tracks on an EP or album is crucial. Sometimes, one track might be over-compressed and another too dynamic. Traditionally, this meant lots of back-and-forth tweaking to make each track feel similar in terms of compression. Smart Comp 3 streamlines this process. I can analyze each drum loop, place the control dot in the same spot for both, and quickly achieve comparable compression between different source materials.

Practical Workflow with Smart Comp 3

Step-By-Step Example

  1. I load a drum loop and open Smart Comp 3, letting it analyze the sound.
  2. I set the dot on the map to my preferred compression spot.
  3. I do the same with a different drum loop, placing the dot in the identical position on the map.
  4. The plugin matches the vibe and compression feel automatically, despite differences in source audio.

With this approach, instead of adjusting multiple parameters in search of a matching sound, I simply reach directly for the result I want.

Auto Gain and Volume Matching

One limitation I noticed is the lack of an effective auto gain feature that matches the perceived volume after compression, especially when comparing different tracks. The current version only matches the output to the input of the single instance. A true comparative auto gain or possibly sidechain functionality for A/B matching would be beneficial.

Applying the Same Idea with APU Loudness Compressor

Dynamic Range Learning

Besides Smart Comp 3, I sometimes use the APU Loudness Compressor, despite its less user-friendly GUI. This compressor offers a "learn" function for source and target dynamic ranges. By analyzing both the source drum loop and the desired target dynamics, the plugin can automatically set its compression curve to match your desired outcome.

Application in Multi-Band Context

I took this further using band-splitting in Bitwig. I split the audio into five frequency bands and placed an APU compressor on each one. By analyzing a reference drum loop I like, I can set the dynamic range for each band and quickly match new drums to this ideal. This system brings substantial control and uniformity to the dynamic shape of my tracks and is especially useful across an entire project.

Why This Approach Matters

Direct Over Indirect

For me, compression is about achieving a specific dynamic feel, not about tweaking controls and guessing the result. Matching the dynamic range and the musical effect is much more efficient and effective when the process is as direct as it is in Smart Comp 3 and the APU Loudness Compressor.

Multiband Possibilities

Smart Comp 3 currently only works as a full-band compressor. While this is sufficient for most uses, I see huge potential for this approach to be extended to multiband plugins, allowing for even deeper shaping and consistency across complex mixes.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Smart Comp 3 introduces a useful way to reach consistent and intentional compression tones across multiple projects, using a simple mapping system. The APU Loudness Compressor’s dynamic range matching feature achieves something similar, especially in a multiband setup. This workflow matches my personal needs much more than traditional manual adjustments.

If you want to try this workflow, Smart Comp 3 has a 30-day trial. Give it a shot if you are tired of indirect tweaking and want dynamic consistency in your music production.

Full Video Transcription

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by Whisper, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

Click to expand Transcription

[00:00:00] Hey folks, welcome back. I want to talk about Smart Comp 3 by Sonable today. In my opinion
[00:00:05] I did something interesting here with this map on the left side which gives you an idea where you are
[00:00:11] absolutely in terms of compression
[00:00:13] So you have this dot here which is the current settings and you can move this around in a certain area here for this drum kit setting and
[00:00:21] it changes all the attack threshold release and ratio settings so you get a certain sound and
[00:00:28] and
[00:00:30] This drum loop is already over compressed. So I don't want to do that much. It's probably here. I
[00:00:37] Want to have this here?
[00:00:40] So usually when you buy a compressor
[00:00:42] You get all these usual settings here and you have a source sound for instance a drum bus
[00:00:49] And you have a goal in mind where you want to end up, right?
[00:00:52] Like how many compression you want to add and how snappy it should be and so on
[00:00:57] and what you have to do then is to indirectly figure out what kind of settings you need to dial in to end up in this place and
[00:01:05] This is cool for most people of course, but for me, it's not
[00:01:10] how I want to dial in settings because I have a specific goal in mind and
[00:01:17] Also, I want to have consistency
[00:01:19] Consistency between different
[00:01:23] Projects so let's imagine you have an album or an EP and you have multiple tracks on that drum bass tracks in my case and
[00:01:29] Some projects some tracks are over compressed on the drums
[00:01:34] Some drums on a different track is like very peaky, right?
[00:01:39] And what I do usually then is I go back into these projects and tweak the settings until they kind of end up in the same place
[00:01:48] They are have the same kind of compressor settings or compression settings. So it sounds the same
[00:01:55] So I have like consistency between different tracks and it sounds kind of similar. This is what I want to do
[00:02:01] So here with this compressor, I can just analyze the drum loop put this on a certain place on the map and
[00:02:09] Then I go to a different track and put this dot in the same place
[00:02:14] And I should it should give me the sign the same kind of sound or vibe of this drum loop
[00:02:21] So I want to do this here
[00:02:23] So this is just drum loop
[00:02:26] And then I have another drum loop here and I want to kind of make this the same
[00:02:32] So what I do here is I use this
[00:02:39] Compressor on this second drum loop here and I put this into a group and call it maybe let's say drums
[00:02:46] Close this and on the first one here. I also open up the smart comp and I analyze the sound
[00:03:04] So I have a different map here, I also want to dial in drums drum kit gives me a different area
[00:03:09] And then I add this to the group here to the drum group and now I can see
[00:03:14] The other drum loop also on this map, right?
[00:03:17] So this is here the second one
[00:03:19] So all I have to do is I put this in the same place and it should give me kind of the same vibe or
[00:03:31] Pressing or compression or I should end up in the same place in terms of compression. Let's see how this sounds here
[00:03:55] So, yeah, so this is my idea of this map here
[00:03:59] So I it's instead of indirectly dialing in these settings
[00:04:04] I have this map and I put the dot on the same place on the map and I should end up in the same place in terms of vibe or
[00:04:12] compression or yeah
[00:04:15] Compressor settings for this specific source material, which is a different drum loop, of course then this one
[00:04:22] So this is exactly what I want. Maybe I'll open up here the second one to see what what it did here to these drums
[00:04:28] So right on these drums here. I have 12 milliseconds attack on on these drums
[00:04:34] I have 40 milliseconds attack
[00:04:37] So I have a different ratio setting than here because this drum loop is already compressed so I don't need to
[00:04:43] Add too much gain reduction here then here
[00:04:49] So this is the idea and I think it's a great idea to actually put into a compressor
[00:04:55] To do this. I haven't bought this yet. It's just the trial version as you can see here. So I'm trying this out
[00:05:02] It needs in my opinion also here some kind of auto gain so you can
[00:05:07] Compare or match the volume of the second input track here
[00:05:13] You have like an auto gain, but it's also it's only comparing to the input signal
[00:05:18] Of the smart comp. Maybe I can use your sidechain for that. I haven't tried this out yet
[00:05:23] But you need to yeah match the volume. So you have like the same feel but this is exactly what I want from a compressor
[00:05:31] Like I said in the beginning instead of indirectly dialing in the settings
[00:05:36] I want to say I want to go exactly to this place
[00:05:39] Figure out all the settings you need to do on this kind of source material to end up in this place and
[00:05:47] This is why I think smart comp 3 is pretty good
[00:05:50] There are not many compressors on the market that do this actually there's none none
[00:05:56] I know of at least maybe you know something like this then let me know
[00:06:01] There is something different. I want to show you also here not to make this video about one
[00:06:07] Compressor I'm using sometimes here this APU
[00:06:11] Compressor plug-in this one here
[00:06:16] and
[00:06:18] GUI wise it's not the best
[00:06:20] It's yeah, you can see it's made by developers not like interface designers
[00:06:26] But here I can go to the strum loop
[00:06:29] And here you can see dynamics down here it has a source range and a target range
[00:06:36] So what I can do now is I can analyze here
[00:06:38] The dynamic range for the target range and for the source range
[00:06:44] So I do this here because I don't want to compress this because this is already compressed
[00:06:51] But I want to figure out where I am in terms of dynamic range
[00:06:55] You can see here the lowest is minus eight loves and the biggest peak is minus seven dot five loves
[00:07:03] I guess the lowest
[00:07:05] Slider here is the rms level more or less and the highest slider is the peak level
[00:07:11] So it gives you basically the lowest and the highest position. So the dynamic range. That's the dynamic range
[00:07:17] And then we can stop this learning process here
[00:07:20] And then just copy the solver to the first drum loop and we still have here
[00:07:27] The target range but the source range you want to change because the source material is different. So we analyze here the
[00:07:34] The source input here and gives you a different setting right a different dynamic range
[00:07:41] It's not it's not a big difference here, but it's also already compressed
[00:07:45] It's maybe not the best example. Maybe I should use something more dynamic, but you can see the volume is at least different, right?
[00:07:52] So here it gives you a kind of different transfer curve for the compressor. You can dial in here the attack settings for
[00:08:01] manually
[00:08:03] Also here to release and I use beats which is 16 or two 16 nodes. Maybe we can use your one
[00:08:11] Release time so one 16 node release time and one ms attack time and it gives you a
[00:08:18] Transfer curve and it adds a compressor setting to it. You can see it's compressing. There's a bit of gain reduction here. That's also
[00:08:26] Upwards compression also in here, right? So it sounds completely different probably
[00:08:31] It's not it's not a big difference. It's probably not the best example here
[00:08:46] You need to have something maybe a bit peaky or more dynamic than this to actually make it visible
[00:08:53] What's happening? But this is the other compressor here
[00:08:56] I know that have like this learn function where you can learn a dynamic range and
[00:09:01] you add in a target dynamic range and
[00:09:05] Then it puts you in the same place in the same
[00:09:09] Dynamic range where you want to end up so you match the compressor setting or the compression of another signal
[00:09:16] Which in my opinion is super important when you make an album or an EP and you want to end up in
[00:09:21] certain places and I did this also here in bitwig with
[00:09:27] Left this year as a preset. Yeah, I did this here for
[00:09:31] Multiple channels. I used your crossover plug-in by robot, which is a free plug-in
[00:09:37] It's it splits up the sound or the audio signal into five bands and I put here an APU compressor on each band with
[00:09:47] with the target range I
[00:09:49] Copied or kind of analyzed from a drum sound or drum loop. I really like right
[00:09:57] So I can just put this here on this drum loop
[00:09:59] And then I hit source and then and analyzes here for each band the dynamic range and
[00:10:10] Changes the compressor settings on each band to end up in the same place on each band
[00:10:16] Exactly as this drum loop. I analyzed it
[00:10:20] I
[00:10:22] Maybe put this here on the other track on this one here
[00:10:33] Yeah, it's just an experiment I do some experiments here and there if you can come up with better
[00:10:40] That's a better compressor tools. So let's analyze this here also to target of course
[00:10:46] Okay, so now we analyze to the source and the target and then we put this on this drum loop and here
[00:11:00] We only analyze the source
[00:11:02] All right, so it puts the drum loop here more in the ballpark of this drum loop. So this is what I want I want to
[00:11:28] Match basically the dynamic range of certain sounds in my track or across different tracks
[00:11:35] And this is how I do it here with this APU crossover preset
[00:11:40] It's just a bunch of you know APU loudness compressor tools here in a band splitter
[00:11:47] That's basically it and then I analyze the source range in the target range and on my
[00:11:52] target track here, I just analyze the source and it figures out the
[00:11:59] Transfer curve for each band and yeah, it's no magic and I don't know why
[00:12:05] Compressors don't do this. I want to match actually I want to have the same dynamics on certain sounds
[00:12:13] That's just just what I want to do instead of you know going in here and
[00:12:18] setting all my
[00:12:22] Values manually, that's not what I want. It's probably interesting for some people in certain
[00:12:28] Circumstances, but most of the times for me compressors are just I want to code go to a certain place make it
[00:12:36] Possible for me. Okay
[00:12:39] So yeah, APU loudness compressor does this also here the smart com3. I have to
[00:12:46] Make more experiments with this one here
[00:12:51] Also, this one is of course only full band. So it's not
[00:12:55] Multiband compression. It's just a full band which is okay. I guess for most things but I
[00:13:03] Really like to have this as a multi band compressor just analyze the source and
[00:13:08] Target and then you know figure out what you need to dial in to end up in this place
[00:13:15] Anyway, I just want to give you a rough idea about smart com3 and my thoughts about it
[00:13:21] Maybe give it a try. I put the link in the description below
[00:13:24] That's the 30 days trial you can try and yeah, he can't do wrong with this
[00:13:31] Okay, thanks for watching and that's it for the day. Bye